Next Action Star, Episode 8: Just Hanging Around

This week's screen test is really important, not just for the Second Chancers, but because it's the last one before the screen test that determines who will be the Next Action Star. Yes, The Powers That Be at NBC (hey, that rhymes!) have decided to move the finale up one week. So next week is the finale, with the resulting movie - still tentatively titled Hit Me - scheduled for August 4th from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern instead of August 11, as previously planned.

As important as it is, this week the finalists seem to be hanging around - literally! The screen test is called "Last Kiss," (which has nothing to do with the Pearl Jam song of the same name, although there are some striking similarities involving a car and death) and involves a driver and a passenger in a car teetering on the edge of a bridge. In a dramatic moment, one of them has to make the "ultimate sacrifice" and let go to save the other.

Of course, hanging on to a car requires muscle. So to keep in shape, the finalists practice martial arts with Eric Chen (the martial arts expert to whom Viviana mouthed off in Episode Two).

Mélisande, Mae, and yes, even a now-much-calmer Jared talk about the reprieve they were given last week and how much more important that makes this week's screen test. Jared and Mark do their Peter Cottontail impression by holding hands and skipping down the path from the front door to the waiting van. Mark quips "That was very 'action star!'" Indeed it was, Mark - NOT!

Jared mentions how the finalists just get in a van and drive somewhere without being told where they're going. (For those of you who saw MTV's "lost season" of The Real World, you know how dangerous this can be if it's not planned correctly.) The van lets the finalists off at the Rose Bowl, where they are reunited with another familiar face, Stunt Coordinator Kurt Bryant (whom we also met in episode two during the "Run & Gun" screen test with the bullet-dodging and the fireball).

The finalists get in some practice on a device called the Descender, which is an industrial strength cable that will be keeping the contestants safe when they "plummet" to the ground during the scene. Jared wonders if the cable is going to hold him. (Don't worry Jared; it'll hold you. It might not hold Ruben Studdard, but it'll hold you. I'm kidding, of course.) Mark thinks the Descender has another, more sinister purpose: "[It's] just to make you feel very comfortable and to make it hard for you to have kids when you get older."

Meanwhile, John, who has a fear of heights, is sweating bullets over his turn on the Descender. As John is up on the platform getting ready to jump, Corinne yells up to him "Breath deep, John, breath deep." Jeanne yells "Stop looking down, John." Of course, what's the first thing John does after hearing that? He looks down. Hey, it's human nature. Knowing this, Jared gets pissed at Jeanne (why not Corinne, I don't know) and shouts, "Don't yell advice to him." This leads to an argument between Jared and Jeanne (déja vu, anyone?) with Jared telling Jeanne to act her age. Jeanne wants to know what her age has to do with this argument. Meanwhile, poor John is just trying to focus on the task at hand and conquer his fear of heights. John eventually jumps, much to everyone's delight, including his own, as he grins from ear to ear.

With practice time over, it's time for this week's time trial challenge. This week, the finalists have to hold on to a bar suspended 65 feet in the air. Whoever holds on the longest wins a night on the town with the houseguest of their choice. Sean says he thinks he's got this in the bag and that nobody will be able to hang on longer than he will. Ummm… keep dreaming, Sean. At 59.18 seconds, you come in second last. Only Mark holds on for a shorter period of time, coming in at 40.37 seconds. Mélisande bests Sean's record by three seconds, at 1:02. Mae says she just kept thinking about the prize, which leads her to set a new record at 1:27:08. John beats this by about three seconds, letting go at 1:30.02. Meanwhile, Jeanne and Corinne make a pact to pick each other if either one of them wins. Aww, isn't that sweet?

Speaking of Corinne, it's her turn and she's the first to pass the two-minute mark, coming in at 2:18:16. Both she and Jeanne look ecstatic. Still, Jeanne manages to beat her by surpassing the three-minute mark and letting go at 3:10:02.

The last one up is Jared. Whether he's afraid of cooties or is just being mindful of what Mark said about the bar being slippery, Jared uses a tissue to wipe down the bar. Whether anyone else did this is unknown, but Jared is the only one shown doing this. When Jared reaches 2 minutes and 30 seconds, Jeanne starts getting nervous, realizing that her record is in jeopardy. Kurt yells to Jared, "three minutes," by which time Jeanne is repeating, "night on the town, night on the town" in an effort to think positive thoughts. But it's no use. Jeanne lets out a groan of despair as she sees her record tumble, and Jared lets go at 3:13:32, winning the night on the town by 3.5 seconds.

If you can't guess who Jared picked for his night on the town, you're either a new viewer or haven't been paying attention. In a move that is as predictable as a Swiss watch, Jared picks his main squeeze (at least his current one) Mélisande to go out on the town with him.

It's time to award the Retake Card. Kurt says it was close, but gives it to a very surprised Mélisande, who self-effacingly says, "What do you know? I won a prize!" If you look closely, you'll see that Mélisande doesn't grab the cable for support after letting go of the bar and falling. Many of the other finalists did.